Together and Apart
by Errol's Feather
Summary: Every year Hades and Persephone had to live apart for six months. Neither of them are happy with the situation as they want to be together, and the challange becomes even a bit bigger when Perse finds she is pregnant.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Greek mythology. Not making any money off this, I'm just barrowing some of the characters.

_**Together And Apart**_

Hades and Persephone were not like the other godly couples, mostly that was because they spent six months together and six months apart.

The six months they were apart she was usually on earth from March to August and then down with Hades the other six. In the beginning when she didn't like Hades because he abducted her, she didn't really mind this agreement. As the time and the years went by she however learned to know him better, and in the end she fell in love with him. Truth to be told she hated being apart from him those six months.

He of course hated it as well. Then again he always did, as Hades was very possessive when it came to his wife. He had loved her from the moment he first laid eyes on her. He already knew the first time he saw her that he had to conquer her. There was just something about her that appealed to him.

And as Hades was as most other men, except he of course was the king of the underworld, he tried courting her in the regular way first. This did however not work very well, as she was not interested.

Seeing her with others drove him crazy, why should they have her when he could not? So in the end he saw no other choice then to capture her and bring her down with him.

At first she had done anything in her power to go against him, but as time went by she settled there, with him as her man.

* * *

It was an early morning in the beginning of March and Persephone was getting ready to leave her husband. He looked at her, she looked horrible, her skin was even whiter than usual, and her eyes were tired and dark, from not having slept the last couple of days. In addition to this her otherwise pale blue lips had gotten a darker shade as if they were bleeding. She was wearing a purple dress and a golden necklace he once had gotten her.

"Do you want me to take you up there?" he asked, as it would give them more time.

"And see you leave, no. It would be too hard," she whispered, unable to hold her tears back any longer.

He nodded before he came a little closer, only to capture her in his arms and letting her cry against his chest.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" she whispered, clinging onto him with all her might.

"I don't know, I really wish it wasn't or that you didn't have to leave," he said as he kissed the top of her head very gently.

"You will come to see me right?" she wondered.

"Of course and do send for me if there is anything," he said, before kissing her neck gently.

"No women in the house," she said, she knew he never would, yet she always said it.

"Never, I wish for no other than you," he answered.

"Or I you, I love you with all my heart, my king," she said looking into his steel blue eyes.

"And I you, my queen, forever and always," he answered and kissed her lips.

"I have to go, don't wait too long," she said, giving him one last kiss, before going to earth.

* * *

Demeter looked at her daughter, it had gone about two weeks since she came back, and she hadn't said a word to her. It was not unusual for her to be upset like this, as it usually too her some time to settle and adjust. There was on the other hand unusual that she didn't talk to her.

"Persephone?" she questioned, as she entered the living room where her daughter was.

Persephone only glared at her, before looking back in the book she was reading. A romance novel of some sort. It was OK after her taste, but it could also have been better. She guessed that she had to find a shop that sold books soon, as she was feed of reading the same for what seemed like decades.

She remembered back in the days when she could only read parchments, she preferred books and papers more as they were easier to handle.

"Perse," her mother tried again, as she had come even closer now.

Persephone did sign for her to wait, as she wanted to finish the chapter. She then halfway looked up from the book, tiredly saying, "What?"

"So are you going to tell me what is going on, it is not like you to be quiet like this," said her mother.

"I don't see why I should, as you keep me as a prisoner here. I rather want to be with him, my husband, the man I love," said Persephone.

"Perse, we have been through this a dozen times. You might as well get used to it and try socializing instead of isolate yourself," said Demeter, as her daughter had kept to herself ever since she got there.

"No, just leave me alone," Persephone shouted at her, most like a rebellion teenager instead of the lady she was.

"Fine, I just don't see why this time is any different, even if you have been with him longer. You knew this was coming," said Demeter with a sigh, leaving her to herself.

"Because this time it is different, and I don't want to be here. I can't do this without him," she thought before bursting into tears.

* * *

A month had gone by and Hades had not heard from his wife, which by now was really starting to worry him. It was not like her at all to not let him know how she was, after she had gone up to earth.

"Perse, what is going on?" he thought. He figured he would give her to the end of the day, before going up to check on her.

Just then there was a knock on his door. Hades quickly got up from his couch and went to open. Outside he found his brother Poseidon.

"Hello brother," said Poseidon and gave him a friendly handshake. The two of them had not always been friends, but they had started to work things out. That had only taken a couple of decades and numerous of fights.

"Poseidon, it has been forever since you've been down here, can I offer you anything," said Hades, as he led him into the living room.

"A beer if you got one, so how is thing down here… Very depressing I presume," said Poseidon with a chuckle.

Hades found one in the bar nearby and handed it to him. Then he sighed and said, "Depressive yes, I haven't heard from Persephone in a month."

"Really that is odd, sure she hadn't found someone else, those things happen you know," he said.

"I know you and the others cheat, we however do not," Hades stated, at least that much were true.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way. Have you tried writing or checking on her then?" Poseidon asked.

"I'm going to tonight, if I haven't heard anything by the end of the day. What I don't get is if she's in trouble, why haven't she called on me," he said.

"I dunno, and then again I don't get women. I'll stay here until tonight, then and accompany you as I need to go up and discuss something with Zeus," he said.

"Good, speaking of wives how is Amphitrite?" Hades asked.

"Still angry after last affair," he said, rolling his eyes.

"And you ask me why I don't do that," said Hades with a chuckle, before taking a sip of his glass that was close by.

* * *

That same night, around 8PM Poseidon and his brother arrived at mount Olympus. Hades greeted "his friend" as he hadn't seen them in a while.

He went up to Zeus and greeted him, his younger brother looked at him and said, "Hades, what are you doing here?"

"Come to check on my wife, as I haven't heard from her since she left," he said.

"It's odd that you mention that, as we haven't seen her either," said Zeus.

"She's not…" Hades didn't dare to finish as an alarm went off in his head.

"Firstly I would assume as she as Goddess can't die, and secondly wouldn't you as king of the underworld and her consort be the first to know?" Zeus questioned.

"I suppose. What about her mother then, any sign of her?" asked Hades.

"Yes, she comes by every once in a while," he answered, just as they heard Hera yell, "Zeus."

"That's my queue to leave, if I were you I would talk to Demeter as she's probably living there either way," he said, heading to his wife.

Hades sighed heavily; he was starting to get even more worried, as he headed to find his beloved wife.

* * *

Only moments later he knocked on Demeter's door, there was now coming red fire around his otherwise dark hair. It usually did when he was angry or upset. He could also take shape as only fire, but he very seldom did.

The fire wasn't really dangerous now, as he was only upset and he could stop it. When he was angry on the other hand it was a little less controllable.

Demeter opened the door a few moments after and in a sarcastic way saying, "Hades, what a pleasant surprise."  
"My wife?" he required.

"Inside, will you turn that off, so you don't burn down my house," she said as she got out leaving them to themselves.

* * *

Hades went inside and looked around. He had been there a couple of times so he knew every room. He fist searched the living room, but when he didn't find her there he went upstairs where her room was. He slowly opened to door, only to find her in bed, curled up like a wounded animal.

Her otherwise clean room was dirty and messy, books, dresses, and other things lay everywhere.

He looked at her again, her skin was as white as the day she left him and her eyes looked sad and tired. Her white dress was wrinkly which made him think she had slept in it. It was impossible to know for how long. Her hair was messy and she was not wearing any makeup for a change.

"Missed me that much?" his dark voice broke the silence, as his hair again caught fire, but not enough to harm anything around them.

Persephone got startled by this and had to look twice to see if he was really there. Then she said, "Hades, it that you?"

"Of course it is me, who did you expect, Zeus?" he said, smiling at her.

"No, I prefer you," she said and vaguely smiled back.

"Persephone, are you alright?" he asked, his voice now sounded more concerned as he sat down by his wife's bedside.

"No I am not," she said as she put one of her hands in his and squeezed it.

He gently let a finger go over her cheek, and push some hair behind her ear before asking, "My queen, what's wrong?"

Persephone that didn't know how to tell him afraid of how he would react, she nervously bit her lip as she looked down on their joined hands.

Hades slowly lifted her chin and looked into her hazel eyes, and Persephone looked back into his steel blue ones. They were filled with both worry and love, which they usually were when he knew something was wrong or bothering her. Then again they had been married for decades; they were after all God's so they had been around for as long as people had believed in them, maybe even longer.

Perse didn't know how old she in fact was; only that her birthday was the 7th of July and that she by appearance looked like she was in her early thirties. She knew he was about twenty years older than her, but he didn't look it at all.

She never particularly minded the age difference either; they were after all over legal sexual age when they got married. If they had in fact been children at all. Too long ago to remember she concluded.

All she did know was that she loved the man in front of her with all her heart, so she decided to tell him the truth. She took a deep breath before saying, "Hades, I'm pregnant."

Hades jaw dropped, and his eyes went wide. It of course wasn't anything unusual about this event, as even they could have accidents. Like that night a little over a month ago when they had their wedding anniversary. This of course had happened before, but in the decades that had passed it had never had consequences.

"So you mean I am going to be a father?" the shocked God asked, looking at his wife. This would for sure explain why she and her room looked like it now did.

Persephone mildly rolled her eyes, before she smiled and said, "Yes, you are."

"I'm gonna have a son," he said.

"Or a daughter," she said and looked at his proud face.

"Or that, either way, he or she will be more than welcome," said Hades, as he reached forward to kiss her.

As he withdrawn she asked, "Will you please do me a favor while I am here?"

"Anything my queen, anything," he said.

"I need you to make a nursery for our baby, as I can't do that when I am here," she said with a sigh.

"Of course," he said before kissing her again.

"You sure are excited," she said with a tiny giggle, breaking away.

"Well you just told me I'm gonna be a father, of course I'm excited," he said as his lips now found their way to her neck.

Persephone moaned softly before managing to get out, "I really want to, but I'm not up for it."

Hades managed to control himself enough to back away and ask, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Just hold me, for as long as you can, I need to feel you," she answered.

Hades quickly crawled under the cover and obliged her wish, and she crept close and hid herself in his protective arms. Perse sighed satisfied by having her man with her, she had longed long enough. And even if she knew he had to go again soon, she settled with the right now. Right now he was with her, and nothing else seemed to matter, it was like all her worries drifted away.

* * *

Hades stood in the room he was trying to make into a nursery. He had painted the walls purple as he didn't know whether it would be a boy or a girl and purple seemed to be something in the middle.

At the moment he was looking at the instructions on how to put together a cradle. He held one piece and looked at the manual, scratching his head. He wondered when it had become so complicated to put together a baby bed.

Then again he had promised her to do this and he did intend to get the baby all that was new. Hades again looked at the manual and slowly pieced it together, engraving some flames here and there.

He looked at it with proud eyes when his three headed dog came running in and almost broke it. Hades took Sweetheart by the neck and dragged him out of the room to his dog house.

The dog that got that he had done something wrong lowered his head and whimpered. Hades that was weak to his companion sighed and scratched him a little behind the ear before telling him in a nice way he shouldn't have done that and that he had to stay out for a little while.

It was funny how Hades came to name his beloved dog Sweetheart. He had him for what seemed like forever. He was actually a gift from his wife. She thought he would need someone to keep him company while she was gone so she got him a dog. He was only a little puppy back then, but Hades couldn't help falling in love with him, much like his wife, and so the name Sweetheart. Persephone found it cute as well.

It might not be a tough name you would expected on the dog of the king of death, then again the dog was really sweet, unless if of course met someone it didn't like.

Hades smiled a little looking out at his dog, it made him think of how much he in fact missed his wife. He sighed, it was the end of April, and she was about two months pregnant now and a little better. He had visited her every now and again, but it wasn't much comfort considering they wanted every moment of this together.

He sighed yet again, figuring it was just not fair, not fair at all before going to check on some new arrivers.

* * *

Persephone was looking out the window, a hand resting on her belly, as she was wondering what Hades were doing at that very moment. She hoped for his sake he in deed was fixing the nursery. She couldn't actually picture that as he was after all the king of the underworld.

Making baby rooms she figured was not one of his strong suits. She giggled by the thought of a room covered with rattles of human bones, and a dream catcher matching. He had probably painted the room to his fashion, which consisted of black and other dark colors.

She sighed, wishing she was there doing it all with him, knowing she couldn't took some of the joy away. She was wondering what it would be like to raise a child in the underworld, which mostly consisted of death. It was not a happy place. If you didn't count their castle, that was.

Their castle was really a happy place with warm colors and flowers in most of the rooms, which was mostly her doing. The only plant her husband truly cared about was something similar to a palm tree. Only smaller. He had even brought the plant home himself.

Perse smiled thinking about her husband and his plant; it was something calming about it.

All in all, the thought of him always calmed her down. He was her safety net when all else failed. He always knew how to make her smile and spoil her to bits.

She sighed, looking out over the garden, before walking inside to continue on her reading.

Persephone was watching how Zeus and Hera were arguing. It was a very grey day, even at Month Olympus. She had found he as usual had sneaked off with another woman. That did not suit her well. He of course tried to plead with her, but for no use, Hera would not listen, not at all.

Persephone giggled a bit by the thought of it, feeling a bit sad for Zeus. In another way he did deserve her harsh words.

A hand gently stroked over the big belly, as she now was five months pregnant she had gotten big. Bigger than she first would have thought, not that she minded it all too much. She enjoyed every other moment of her pregnancy like every other mother to be would.

She had had some minor discomfort during the first three months, but other than that not so much. Other that it had went flawless.

She giggled as she saw an angry Zeus walk away from Hera saying she could go a certain place. Hera on the other hand yelled that he better get back or she would make sure he would regret it.

"I am so glad your father isn't like that," said Persephone, gently stroking over her belly again. Maybe it was to answer her or maybe it was to get extra attention, but just like that she could feel a clear movement inside her for the very first time.

"So you are listening," she said with an even happier smile.

She didn't feel another movement, but she surly knew that he or she again would move when ready. She was simply just overjoyed over that very first movement from deep inside.

* * *

When Hades came by the very same night she at once told him their little evening star had moved not only one, but three times. The excited father to be gently placed his hand on her belly to feel the baby as well. Unfortunately he didn't feel anything.

Hades looked at his beloved wife with sad eyes, not removing his hand, but she assured him that in time he would feel their child as well. He settled by that for now and asked her instead how it felt, wanting to know every little detail.

She told him about the fight between his brother and his wife, and he rolled his eyes at it. Then she told him what she said and how the little one had moved. She had been surprised by it at first, as it was the first time she had felt that the baby was alive inside her. Really alive and growing. Then it had been quiet for some time, before moving again.

Hades looked at her as she was telling him this; he had not seen her so excited in ages. She was literally glowing of happiness, something that made him love her even more than he already did.

She stopped talking and just looked at him asking, "What?"

"You're just so beautiful," he said, looking at her with a goofy grin.

She blushed shyly, smiling at him, not saying anything to answer that, she didn't need to. Her blushing face and the love in her eyes said more than a thousand words.

That night Hades made love to his wife in a very loving way, before they fell asleep tightly wrapped up in each other's arms.

* * *

Persephone looked over at Hades, he was sleeping peacefully. It was early morning and he was exhausted from tending to her needs the night before. She could be a very demanding lady it seemed. Or at least she had been that for the last two months she had been home.

He never minded though as he was waiting on her hand and feet, day and night.

"Hades," she whispered in a very soft tone, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Mhmnhm," he answered, still far away in dreamland.

"Hades," she said again, a little louder this time.

"Yes," he answered, opening his eyes and looking at her.

"I just wanted to thank you for being so patient with me," she said, snuggling close.

"You are welcome, my queen," he said, gently stroking her backside.

"You never once complain," she said, with a sigh of great satisfaction.

"When it comes to you, I have none," he said, completely honest.

"That's so sweet of you to say," she said, nuzzling his chest.

"It's true," he said.

"How come you are so wonderful?" she asked him.

"I'm not all that, I just really love you and I want you to have everything to be happy," he said honest.

"Well I think that you are, in fact I think you are the most wonderful man in the world," she said and kissed his chest, just as she felt a sharp pain and gasped because of it.

"Persephone, darling are you OK?" Hades asked, looking at his wife with worried eyes.

"Hades, I think the baby is coming," she whispered.

"Are you sure, are you absolutely sure?" he asked, sitting up in bed, looking at her.

She looked into his eyes and whispered, "If this is not what birth feels like, something is very wrong with our little one."

"I should get someone," said Hades, as truth to be told he had no way knowing how to deliver a baby.

"No, don't you dare leaving me now, I don't care how long this will take, but you are not leaving," she said, clinging to him for dear life.

"Easy my queen, I'm right here," said Hades, for the first time in his long life, he felt trapped. He knew he couldn't leave her, but at the same time he was terrified that something could go wrong.

"Just, hold me please," she whispered, looking at him with tearful eyes.

"Of course," he said, holding her tighter.

"I think I need to change position," she said, getting on all four. He sat up next to her, gently stroking her back, trying to make it better for her.

"I know this is a bad time to ask, but we never really discussed a name," he said, trying to get her mind away from the pain.

"I don't care," she almost screamed at him, her face turning red, twisted in pain.

"Breath," he encouraged her.

"Kill me please," she pleaded.

"You know I cannot do that," he said, considering they both were immortal.

"I don't know how to do this," she whispered.

"Neither do I," he admitted.

"You will catch him or her when he or she comes out, right?" she asked, looking at him with skeptical eyes.

"Of course I will, trust me and more importantly trust your body and your emotions, he said, looking back into her pain filled eyes.

She smiled vaguely at him and nodded and he smiled back at her, taking one of her hand in his. Even if she was now more unbalanced she whispered, "Whatever happens don't let go until it's over."

"I won't, I promise," he said, gently letting his thumb stroke over her hand.

* * *

Hades kept his word, he never, not even for a moment let go of her hand. He didn't care it took over three hours to deliver their little Babygirl. When she came out he cut the cord with one of his special flames, before proudly handing her over to his wife.

She tiredly smiled back at him, gently stroking their little girl. Never before had she experienced that level of satisfaction.

"She's perfect," she said, looking down at their daughter with tender eyes.

"She really is, just like her mother," said Hades, gently kissing her lip.

Persephone blushed shyly, before asking, "So what will her name be then?"

"What do you think of Macaria?" he asked.

"I…I think I like it," she said.  
"Are you sure, we can pick something else," he said.

"No Macaria fits her perfectly," said Persephone, rewarding his suggestion with a deeper kiss.

"The Macaria it is," he said, gently nuzzling her check, holding her close. Persephone soon fell asleep in his arms, holding their little one close, glad that she was finally back with him, and didn't have to leave for a long time yet.

He just smiled at her, gently nuzzling the top of her head, even after she had fallen asleep, before he just peacefully watched over his wife and their little miracle. Glad she was with him, where she truly belonged.

* * *

Feedback always welcome and very much appreciated :o)


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